Background
: Osteoporosis has been thought of as a disease of women, but the incidence of male osteoporosis is increasing and is expected to keep rising due to alcohol abuse, smoking and increased life expectancy for men. This study was done to evaluate how many men recognized the significance of osteoporosis and its management.

Methods : There were 138 male subjects who underwent Bone Mineral Density (DEXA) from January 2000 to August 2003 at Sung Nam Central Hospital. We reviewed their BMD results and formed questionnaires which were constructed to evaluate men's recognition and treatment realities of osteoporosis. Telephone interviews and mailing services were utilized. The respondents were 96 (69.6%) and analysis was done.

Results : The average age of the 138 men was 55. Among them, there were 55 (39.9%) and 68 (49.3%) men who had been diagnosed with osteopenia and osteoporosis, respectively. Information on osteoporosis was obtained mainly from mass media like TV and newspaper (57.3% of total answers). The reason for undergoing test for osteoporosis was related to the annual screening tests (40.6% of total answers). Most of these people were likely to ignore the significance of osteoporosis, because only 26 percent answered they should receive proper treatment in case of osteoporosis although they did not have any symptoms at the time of the diagnosis. Among these osteoporotic patients, 76.7 percent did not seek any medical care and the most common reason for refusal to treatment was no existing symptoms for osteoporosis. Among the total, 67.4 percent of the patients said there had been no change of life behavior after the diagnosis.

Conclusion : We found that men had relatively more knowledge of osteoporosis than we expected, but they knew little about the need for treatment and possible severe complications like major fractures that may occur. Also, we found the diagnosis of osteoporosis has little effect on behavioral changes. In conclusion, family physicians should take more interest in the education of patients to increase compliance for its treatment.

Background
: The functional status of elderly has been measured by many different methods including Karz ADL index, Bathel ADL index and physical self- maintenance scale. Among them, Bathel ADL index has been widely used in many countries because of easiness to scoring and administration. Therefore, we translated the Bathel ADL index and tested the translation validity and psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of Korean version of Bathel ADL index.

Methods : The Bathel ADL index was translated by multidisciplinary committee members. The quality of translation was rated by committee members using three criteria (clarity, use of common language, conceptual equivalence). Reliability was tested by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), two weeks test-retest reliability, and intraobserver agreement. Clinical validity and construct validity comparison with brain disability grade were tested for validity testing.

Results : Cronbach's alpha was 0.97. Two weeks test-retest correlations coefficient was 0.95 (P=0.00). Interrator agreements were high in all 10 items (κ=0.82∼1.0). Normal control group had lower scores than the patient group (P=0.000). Correlation coefficients between the Korean version of Bathel ADL index score and brain- disability grade was -0.58 (P=0.000).

Conclusion : The Korean version of Bathel ADL index is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring functional status of the elderly.

Background
: As the average lifespan of human increases, osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related fractures have become major health care problems. Despite recent advances in medical treatment, few studies have assessed the recognition of osteoporosis in general adults. This study examined the recognition of osteoporosis and analysed the relating factors.

Methods : We made a survey in a rural area called Chunjunlee in Chunchon city. The questionnaire contained general characteristics of people, sociocultural factors, questions constructed to know the recognition of osteoporosis and factors that were presumed to influence people's recognition of osteoporosis. DEXA was performed on those who visited our medical office free of charge.

Results : The total number of people who responded to the questionnaire was 204. They were composed of 81 men and 123 women. Among the total, 83% of women and 72.8% of men said that they had heard about osteoporosis. There was no significant recognition score difference between men and women. In the items of recognition, wrong answer rate concerning the association between osteoporosis and musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis and low back pain was above 90%. The significant factors that influenced its recognition were age, education level, menopause state and newspaper/ magazine subscription. All men who were diagnosed with osteoporosis on DEXA initially said that they did not have osteoporosis.

Conclusion : Many people had a conceptual confusion between osteoporosis and other muscular skeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis and low back pain. Physicians played no significant role in improvement of people's recognition of osteoporosis. Generally, men thought that osteoporosis was a problem in women only.